John Campbell and Mat Larson

“So, seriously, I want to be your guys’ friend,” I said while leaving my interview with Mat Larson and John Campbell of Matuse wetsuits. After hanging out with them for about an hour-and-a-half in the freezing cold, dark back closet of Mitch’s surf shop in La Jolla, ironically I wanted more. They’re the kind of people you want to be around with the hopes that something good might possibly rub off on you. They’re passionate, motivated and excited to say the least.
Born in San Francisco and raised in Long Beach, Mat Larson, 31, has always been interested in surfing and the industry that surrounds it. At 15 he began working at Orange County surf shop Canvas by Katin, where managers Dana and Travis helped to spark his interest in design by showing him it’s physical and mathematical elements. After making the move to San Diego to attend SDSU for college, Larson naturally got a job at Mitch’s where his knowledge of the industry grew further.
A few cities north, San Diego native John Campbell, 26, played football, ran track and studied AP Studio Art at Torrey Pines High School.
“I was one of the few guys that I remember who submitted a full portfolio of art in addition to a highlight tape to colleges,” Campbell said.
It’s a good thing he did. Campbell was accepted to Dartmouth College where he studied English while playing both football and track. After graduation, with experiences at IMG and Deutsch advertising under his belt, Campbell left for South Africa to work for ex-CEO of Mastercard Alex “Pete” Hark at eCommerce authentication outfit US Encode. Luckily, he came back to SD and decided to found import/export company Verostar Technologies Intl.
At the same time, Hurley’s director of wetsuits and innovation Ronnie Brim discovered Larson’s innovative designs while hanging out at Mitch’s. Not only was one of his ideas used for their wetsuit campaign, Larson was also invited to attend design meetings at the Hurley office. VTI happened to be working with Hurley at the time, Campbell stopped by the office with VTI and the rest is history.
“I think that we’re both really lucky in the sense that we’re two guys who have a lot in common, we both have a lot of overlapping interests, and when we get together most of the time we’re just having so much fun … I think that’s what’s given us a real ability to hit the ground running and accomplish a lot very quickly,” Campbell said.
In the summer of 2006, Matuse wetsuits successfully launched its first line of high-end wetsuits.
“In December of ’05 we were already in China hammering out a product line. The production facility said, ‘There’s no way you guys will be able to have this on the shelves by the summer of ’06,’ and we did,” Campbell said. “Since then we’ve been racing around to finish out the rest of our line and sign our team.”
Besides the motivation they get from each other, it’s obvious that these guys have a lot of people supporting them and guiding them toward success. In fact, the guys were the first ones to admit that people like Mitch Hagio, Campbell’s AP Studio Art teacher and Matuse advisory board member Fred Marinello, and family friend Jamie Wallace have played a huge part in their success.
“It’s been nice because we’ve been able to combine that young, entrepreneurial spirit, but also connect it with people who have a much older, broader macro point of view,” Campbell said.
The guys also wanted to thank guys like Greg Betz, Arlene Kim, Aaron Kim, Dan Hawthorn, Pat Murphy, Campbell, Volk & Lauter and the Mitch’s crew for all of their support throughout the past year.
Overall, the guys attribute their success to the fact that they are staying true to themselves. Larson said, “When you funnel your passion into something you do, even though we work so much on it, it doesn’t matter because we’re doing what we love to do. I think that really shows. Like, when we talk about what we’re doing, we get excited and people feel it. They want to be apart of it … That’s exciting.”